[csmattryder]

> Hortensius, however, says that what keeps ThinkPads relevant is trusty productivity rather than any specific aspect of a given model. [...] “It’s because I can count on it that those things matter.”

Funny to read this, as I await my Lenovo X1 Carbon to come back from repair, as it shut off one night and never came to boot again. I've also got an ~~IBM~~ (edit: it's a Lenovo!) Thinkpad X220, a motherboard-only shell that I plonked my own hardware choice into, taped a slew of Debian stickers onto and haven't had a fault with, ever.

I'll defend the Thinkpad brand with a religious fervour, for the same reason Peter Hortensius says in the article. But under Lenovo's stewardship, I'm left with a lot to be desired.

I hope I was just unlucky with this X1 Carbon, that fervour is willing to give Lenovo a second chance, here.

[YeGoblynQueenne]

Sorry to hear about your machine, I hope it gets better soon!

The X1s are well built, though. I have the first-gen one and it still works just fine, dual booting Fedora (24? I think) and Win7. The one thing that ever broke was the square power plug. Not because it's square, but it did break- and then it took me a week of phone calls very patiently speaking to Lenovo reps until I convinced them that my accidental damage protection was still active and it covered the damage. Then they sent a tech guy to my workplace, just so I could let him know I had already mailed the machine to Lenovo, as we had agreed by email. Very well organised.

I now have the 4th gen machine. I initially thought it looked flimsier than my 1st gen one, but then one day I dropped it from about 1.5 meters, on its side and nothing broke. It was inside my bag, and a laptop sleeve, but I'm pretty sure that most other laptops this end of a Toughbook would have ended up with at the very least a broken screen. Not my Splinter :0

Edit: now that I think of it, I've also stepped on it, dropped it from a coffee table and generally handled it roughly. It doesn't care.

[ajford]

My one issue with the first-gen X1 is that they used an obscure SSD type (I'm betting it's a Betamax/VHS issue), which meant sourcing a replacement SSD when mine started to die was a pain. In the end, I decided that it wasn't worth the risk & cost (either source an OEM drive in limited size for high cost or an expensive adapter from unknown sources and a quality drive). I ended up buying a T460 and am quite happy with it. I still miss the old scissor keys in my old X201, but Lenovo's chiclet keys are still better than the Macbook I have to use for work.

[acct1771]

Exact same issue. Trying all the SSDs on the shelf, and "What the hell port is this?!"

[muro]

Had small issues with X1 over the years - e.g. a key fell out (fixed next day by replacing the machine), but otherwise an excellent machine. The trackpad is bad (on Linux) and I didn't find a fix. I like touch to click (without pressing the dedicated button or pressing the trackpad) and it almost never works.

[stilley2]

Once my current computer dies I'm done with lenovo for a while. Admittedly I got a mid range computer (yoga 2 pro) not a Thinkpad, but I don't think that excuses the fact that screws simply fall out of the bottom of the machine. Screws which require a nonstandard screwdriver of course. That being said, it is still kicking at almost 4 years, but it has been sent in for repair twice. I'm contemplating my next laptop as a relatively disposable Chromebook running arch.

[rpvnwnkl]

Did IBM make the x220? I thought Lenovo produced that model (I have a Lenovo x201).

[userbinator]

I believe the last IBM Thinkpads were in the X60/X61 era. I have an X60 with a mix of IBM and Lenovo branding. Everything after that was Lenovo.

[csmattryder]

Huh, TIL.

I'll assume I'm right to give them a second chance, maybe it's just the X1 that's going awry? I've read a lot of reports about the X1's 2013 models that describe the issue that occurred to mine.

Like I say, I love Thinkpads, even with this blip - my next laptop will still likely be a Thinkpad, be it IBM or Lenovo.

[romed]

It was possible until quite recently for businesses to order Lenovo machines with IBM branding.

[philsnow]

Sounds right to me. I have two X61s's that I refurbished for my kids (really just swapping in SSDs and a bit more RAM), one has IBM branding and the other has Lenovo branding.